A Chance to Set the Masks Aside
by AlexisChristofori
Summary: When the weight of the masks Serah and Lightning must bear in their daily lives begins to overwhelm them, Fang and Vanille step in with a plan to ease the pressure a little bit. At least, that was how it was supposed to go. Sundae! Rated M for later chapters.


_Author's Note: So this is a generic sort of 'modern world' AU setting, with Cocoon and Gran Pulse duplicated in a form that one might find here on good ol' Earth. It's gonna be Sundae (Lightning, Serah, Fang, Vanille) through and through, so if any or all of that isn't your thing, this might be the best time to duck out. I really have __**no **__idea how long this is gonna end up being, I'm mostly just letting things go as they will, but any feedback would be amazingly awesome and taken in consideration for upcoming parts! Thanks in advance, everyone; I hope you enjoy it!_

**Chapter 01**

_In Which Lightning is Repeatedly Blindsided_

"There! I told you best two out of three would be more fair! Ha!" With a triumphant grin, Fang gestured sharply at the television screen with the controller to punctuate her words.

Rather than validate her declaration with a response, Lightning focused on the screen, watching the replay of the last 30 seconds of the race, when Fang's car had overtaken her own and passed into first place. It disappeared abruptly, to be replaced by a ten second countdown and the split-screen representation of their two cars.

Unconsciously, for the most part, Lightning leaned forward a little bit, wrapping her arms more tightly around the girl in her lap. The both of them were seated comfortably on the floor in front of the loveseat, Lightning's back to the piece of furniture and Serah laying between her legs, back against Lightning's chest. The coffee table had been moved aside to accommodate them, giving them both plenty of room and a clear view of the TV from the floor.

Fang had taken up residence in the beaten looking recliner that sat slightly askew from the loveseat, while Vanille lay sprawled across the aforementioned miniature couch, a book held up over her face at arm's length as she ignored the goings-on over the video game. She had long ago stopped trying to be cuddly with Fang if Serah had already stolen a place with Lightning; Fang jerked and flailed far too much as she played, and it wasn't uncommon for there to be injuries to any innocent cuddlers in the area.

With their little audience of one, Lightning and Fang's respective cars sped through the race circuit for a final time, resulting ultimately in Fang's little purple sports car nicking the back of Lightning's silver and sending it into a spin, careening out of control and into a barricade. While she was recovering, Fang passed the finish line.

Her jubilations would surely have been the source of much physical trauma if Vanille hadn't been on the loveseat instead.

"Just a bad start, like I said." Fang grinned across the room at Lightning, that one grin that made the officer simultaneously want to slap her and kiss her.

But rather than do either, Lightning sat her controller aside and shrugged. "The patch coming on Tuesday is supposed to address certain physics issues, bring them a little more in line with reality. So things like little nudges don't send only one car careening out of control wildly."

The brunette's crestfallen expression tickled a laugh out of Lightning's sister, and the police officer unconsciously tightened her arms a little around the younger girl, one hand resting idly against her hip while Lightning's other hand splayed across her stomach.

She recovered quickly, though. From Lightning's experience, Fang wasn't one to remain down for very long, and tended to focus on the positive over the negative at any given moment. "Well, that's then, and this is now. How 'bout you go refill the winner's drink, huh? Huh?" She waved the empty glass invitingly, and Lightning could hear Serah stifle a chuckle.

"I'll pass, but thanks," she answered, just casually dismissive enough to rile Fang up a little. "Too comfortable." Moving a little so she could rest her chin on Serah's shoulder rather than the top of her head, Lightning gave her an affectionate squeeze.

Serah wriggled back into the embrace eagerly, and Fang heaved a disappointed sigh. "No respect whatsoever." Not to be outdone, Fang pulled one leg up into the chair so she could turn around in it and leaned over the arm, holding her glass out to Vanille instead. "Vaniiiille?"

The red-head raised her book a little bit further to peer underneath it, then briefly stuck her tongue out, turned the page, and lowered the book again. "You're all against me!" Fang declared, finally, in defeat, as she pushed herself up with exaggerated difficulty out of the chair and tromped toward the kitchen.

Lightning chuckled and closed her eyes, her head tilted a little bit to lean against Serah's. Behind her she could hear Vanille close her book and set it on the little table at one end of the loveseat, then wriggle around on the couch. One lightly tanned arm snaked down over Lightning's shoulder to wrap lightly around the both of them, and Vanille snuggled up against them as much as she could from where she was laying down behind them.

When Fang returned with her tea glass completely full once more, rather than sitting back in her chair she lowered herself easily to the floor beside Lightning and leaned back with Vanille's legs pillowing her head. Comfortable silence fell among the four; no words were needed when simple presence would do.

It didn't remain comfortable for very long, however, at least not to Lightning's perception. Serah fidgeted in her arms a little bit, her fingers never still, always toying with a bit of fabric from her shirt, or Lightning's sleeve, or a lock of hair. Her eyes half open, Lightning watched her in silence, trying to figure out what might be on her mind that she was obviously _trying_ to figure out a way to get it out. She was content to let Serah work it out on her own though; she would figure out the words eventually, and they would be her words in her own time.

Fang was not of the same mind, though; a few moments after Lightning had once more closed her eyes to relax, the taller Pulsian spoke up. "Somethin' on your mind, little love?" Her larger hand reached out to cover one of Serah's, forcing it to lay still against Lightning's leg.

Serah didn't say anything for a minute, then nodded slightly, just enough to be visible without drawing away from Lightning. "So the Snowball is in a few weeks..."

"Snowball?" Vanille piped up from just behind Lightning. "But it doesn't usually get cold enough here _to_ snow."

"It's what they call the winter dance, before they go on break," Lightning clarified, remembering the two she had gone to. "Snow for winter, and ball for the type of dance. 'Snowball' is just trying to be cute."

Vanille 'ooh'd in understanding, and Lightning couldn't help but smile a tiny bit. She had never met someone before who was quite so casually and easily adorable. The red-head clearly wasn't _trying_ to be cute, it just happened.

"Right," Serah answered, still staring down at the carpet, rather than up at any of the rest of them.

Beside Lightning, Fang leaned her head back so she could look up at Vanille. "I'll flip you to take her to this one," she offered immediately, producing a coin from her pants pocket. "Heads I win, tails you lose?"

Vanille bounced her legs, sending Fang scurrying toward the coffee table a little bit, laughing. "I haven't fallen for that one in weeks, Fang, you can stop trying" she answered, arms crossed defiantly and cheeks a little bit red. Lightning, too, chuckled. It _sounded_ like a legitimate bet, and they had yet to figure out how many times she had used it successfully on both Vanille and Serah.

Serah, though, did not seem to be sharing in the humor. Instead she fidgeted worse. "I was actually hoping you could take me to this one, Claire," she continued in a small voice.

Though only subtly, Fang and Vanille both sat up and paid a little stricter attention; the feeling of their eyes boring into her made Lightning uncomfortable, given that she could only turn the girl down. It wasn't exactly something she wanted an _audience_ for.

She laced her fingers over Serah's stomach and pulled her closer so that she could kiss her cheek. "Serah, you know I can't do that," she murmured, the weight of regret weighing her tone down, keeping it soft and somehow private. "I can't be your stern older sister **and **be at the dance with you at the same time."

The younger Farron squirmed a little, her lips parting to object, but Lightning silenced them with a finger. "I'm only human, Serah; it would be hard for me, too, to act like I need to. You wouldn't enjoy it if I were acting that way either. And if we ignored that aspect and both enjoyed it, you could get in very serious trouble, even legal trouble." Which was to say nothing of what would happen to Lightning; she was technically breaking the law on multiple levels, despite being tasked with _enforcing_ the law as a Palumpolum police officer.

"And I want you to be able to have a good time."

Lightning removed her finger, returning her hand to Serah's stomach and squeezing her in a gentle hug. Still, the girl's shoulders slumped. "I know, I just...it's so hard to _hide_ all the time." Her voice wavered, slightly, and Fang and Vanille both moved a little bit closer.

'_Is she...trying not to cry?'_ Lightning twisted a little to the side and raised one hand to take Serah's chin gently with finger and thumb and turn her so she could face her. Serah's eyes remained downcast though, refusing to meet Lightning's, and her lower lip quivered with whatever emotion she was holding back.

"I _know_ we shouldn't, we _can't_ but...it just feels like..." Her hands moved as if physically grasping for words, "Like I'm some sort of...of little secret. It hurts, when you act all distant, even if I know it's for my own good. And it hurts for me to have to act that way too! And it's just getting harder and harder..."

She sniffled, and though Lightning didn't remember either of them actually moving, Vanille was sitting up on the couch behind her, one hand on Lightning's shoulder and the other on Serah's, and Fang was kneeling down beside the girl, rubbing her back and shoulders.

Serah sniffled louder and looked up at Vanille, then Fang, and Lightning saw that her eyes were shiny and bright with unshed tears. "And I don't want you to think I don't _want_ to go with you guys; I do, I love you, but...I'd just like to go with Light, just once..."

'_Goddess, how can I say no? I didn't know it...it hurt her so much.'_ Lightning's chest ached at the same time as felt warm and light, which only made her feel worse. It made her _proud_ to know that Serah wanted that, so much that it made her hurt. But it was crushing to think that _she_ was the one inflicting that hurt on her. "Serah, I-"

Pink locks shivered as Serah shook her head and abruptly leaned in to silence her sister with a brief kiss. It didn't last long, but it was hard and needful, and very successfully shocked her into quiet. Taking advantage of the momentary daze she had inflicted on her, Serah was up and standing out of reach of Lightning's arms before she could reorient herself. "I'm sorry, for mentioning it; I know we can't do anything about it. I'm...I need to go take a shower and get to bed; tomorrow's a school day."

Before Lightning could get to her feet to reach for her, Serah retreated to the hallway at a fast walk, and Lightning's hand passed through empty air before falling back down to her side. Beside her, Fang pushed herself up to her feet as well, and the officer felt the comforting weight of her arm across her shoulders. The slightly shorter woman turned to look at her, brows furrowed in indecision. "Should I go after her...?" If the situation had not been so suddenly emotional, Lightning would have hated the vulnerable waver in her voice, but it was unimportant at the moment.

Fang looked beyond her at the hallway when the sound of the bathroom door closing came, and then back at Lightning. "Not...yet, I think. Give 'er a little time, Sunshine."

Lightning's shoulders slumped and she fell back onto the loveseat with a groan. She ran one hand over her face, her fingers pausing briefly to massage at one temple, then fell onto the cushions limply. The gaze she turned on Vanille and Fang was pleading. "How am I supposed to tell her no? You _saw_ her." She gestured vaguely behind her at the hallway. "I can count on both hands the number of times she's been that close to crying since our parents died. At least, when I'm around." Though until just a few years before, Lightning had been much less the sort that Serah would have voiced emotional issues to, anyway.

And no time before had hurt like it did now. Usually they were angry tears, from Lightning being forced to punish her for something, or setting limits on when she had to be home at night and such, typical teenager things. _'Has she _ever_ gotten like this about...me? Or Fang, or Vanille?'_ Lightning racked her brain but could think of no precedent.

The other two remained silent for a few long moments, and when Lightning finally looked up, they were both looking at each other in that intense fashion that made Lightning just a little bit jealous. It was _almost_ like they were telepathic or something, trading thoughts with a look; even with Serah, whom she had known almost all her life, Lightning wasn't that close to anyone. That little bit of jealousy bit unpleasantly into the turmoil that was already getting her stomach roiling. Her jaw tightened a little bit as the two concluded their private and silent conversation with a significant looking nod and turned to look back at her.

* * *

Fang blinked at Lightning in minor surprise when she faced her again. Her jaw was set and taut, and her frown had taken on a somewhat harder edge, blue eyes icier. _'Whoa now, what happened there? Did I miss something?' _Lightning met her blink of confusion with the not-quite glare until Fang raised a hand a little bit beseechingly. "Vanille and I have an idea."

The blue lost its iciness, a shade. Fang glanced back at Vanille, who nodded again before offering Lightning a smile but no words. _'Up to me then.'_ Fang cleared her throat and Lightning's gaze was focused on her again. "We want to put our savings together and get the four of us out of town for a weekend."

"What?" It was an artform the way Lightning managed not to lose her old stoicness and yet still sound a little blindsided by the statement.

Vanille reached out and laid a hand on Lightning's knee to give it a reassuring little squeeze. "Somewhere that you an' Serah don't have to act different. We've kinda wanted to for a while, but..." Vanille looked up at Fang.

"But we think now's probably the best time; don't you?" Lightning just blinked back at her, but the tension in her jaw melted away, and for a moment she looked almost confused.

"You...want to pay for a vacation for us?" she asked after a long moment of staring at the two Pulsians.

"I was thinkin' maybe back down to Bodhum? Nice an' warm this time of year, the beach an' all that." Fang shrugged and offered a grin. "But if you think Serah'd like to go somewhere else, by all means. I think we can afford it." One hand found Vanille's free one and she laced their fingers together with easy familiarity, and the red-head nodded her agreement.

Bodhum was where Lightning and Serah had been born and raised for a number of years. At least until their parents were killed in an accident and they were shipped to Palumpolum for fostering. Their fostering, according to Serah, had not been long; Lightning had gotten a job as quickly as possible, to get them their own little place. It was long enough ago that there were unlikely to be anyone who would recognize them, and even if they did, nothing they could really do.

Lightning seemed to be absorbing the idea unusually slowly, and Fang realized the possibility had never occurred to her. Either that they could or should go to a different city just to get some nice together time, nor that Fang and Vanille would be willing to fund it out of their own pockets.

But it was slowly settling in, it looked like.

The pink-haired young woman reached out, taking Vanille's hand off of her knee with one hand, and reaching for Fang's with the other. Her palms were warm and surprisingly soft for a police officer, but her grip was just as strong as one would expect when she squeezed their hands. "Fang, Vanille..." Lightning swallowed, and she opened her mouth, only to abruptly close it again.

'_She's so cute when she's flustered,'_ Fang reflected, her grin widening. In an exaggeratedly gallant manner, Fang raised Lightning's hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. Lightning flushed and scowled at her, though only briefly, as the expression quickly fell away. "Sunshine, it's our choice. We **want **to; let us do this for you."

"Yeah. We're a family, right?" Her lips pressed tight together, Lightning only nodded. "Then let us, okay?"

Silence fell over the three again, and Lightning's hands tightened on Fang's and Vanille as she leaned forward, looking from one to the other, and then back again. "Vanille, Fang...I..."

With visible effort she cut herself off, swallowed hard again, and released a sigh as a ghost of a smile crossed her lips. "I love you. Thank you." Never had she sounded both so happy or so defeated.

The simple words held an unusual level of warmth that made Fang's heart flutter in silent reminder of why the four of them were together as they were. On the surface, it didn't look like it would work; but like all things, the heart of the matter was deeper than the surface of any of them.

"Why don't you go tell Serah the good news? Maybe it'll cheer her up!" The look Lightning flashed Vanille was both loving and thankful, and Fang spied the beginnings of a blush on the statuesque young woman's face, and she grinned.

'_We should do this more often, just to get her to lower those little barriers for us,'_ she thought. There was a world of difference between Lightning outside the apartment and inside, but it was still rare for her to be so frank and unguarded as she had allowed herself to be, just briefly.

"I will," she answered, giving both of their hands a squeeze before she stood, giving them enough time to stand up and make room for her in front of the loveseat. She leaned down a little first to cover Vanille's lips with a kiss, then Fang's. It was softer than usual, gentler, and Fang returned it in kind. More love than lust, a kiss to treasure.

The elder Farron looked like she wanted to say something, but after a second's hesitation shook her head and nodded at the both of them, then stepped around the loveseat and started off toward the hallway and the sound of the shower.

"Bodhum it is then," Fang announced quietly as she and Vanille both sat down in the now-vacant loveseat, the smaller girl nestled against her side under her arm. "The weekend after the dance, you think?"

"Yeah, that's probably better. Then she'll have something to look forward to for _after_ the dance, instead of thinkin' about the dance waiting for when we get home and it spoiling the trip," the red-head answered.

Seemed a logical argument to Fang. With a contented sigh, the taller woman dragged the coffee table closer with one foot, then propped both up on its surface and settled in for an extended nap. If things went well, Lightning and Serah would probably prefer privacy for a little while, and she was happy to give it to them. Whatever it took to perk the usually-cheerful teen back up.


End file.
